A gender diversity initiative that includes defined targets for female
participation at partner, board and senior management level has seen law firm
Bell Gully win a prestigious award at the 2015 Euromoney Asia Women in Business
Law Awards in Hong Kong this week.
Bell Gully was named as the winner in the Best Gender Diversity Initiative by
a National Firm category, which was open to law firms throughout Asia. It is the
third award the firm has won in the past two months that recognises Bell Gully’s
strong commitment to diversity and equal opportunity.
On October 9, Bell Gully was recognised with a Silver award at the YWCA Equal
Pay Awards, which acknowledge best practice among business leaders actively
addressing equal pay within their organisations, and in September Bell Gully was
named a winner at the 2015 White Camellia Awards. The White Camellia Awards
highlight organisations that have made the most progress in implementing the UN
Women and the UN Global Compact (UNGC)’s Women’s Empowerment Principles, which
are committed to supporting gender equality.
“It is gratifying to receive recognition for our efforts in supporting gender
diversity. It reflects the great work put in by many people within the firm to
ensure that we are on the right track,” said Bell Gully Chairman Chris Gordon.
“Whilst we appreciate this recognition, there is plenty more we want to achieve
yet. We remain actively committed to the policies we’ve put in place to ensure
our diversity objectives are met.”
The gender diversity initiative recognised at the Asia Women in Business Law
awards encompasses Bell Gully’s formal gender diversity targets, along with a
range of supporting policies, practices and initiatives. These have included
enhanced parental leave policies, ‘return to work’ coaching and unconscious bias
training, a formal Women at Bell Gully programme offering support and networking
opportunities, as well as implementation of governance initiatives to ensure
continued progress.
A number of major firms were named for their efforts at the Hong Kong
ceremony, including Gilbert + Tobin as best National Firm for Women in Business
Law and Baker & McKenzie for Best International Firm for Women in Business
Law. Hogan Lovells won in the Best Gender Diversity Initiative by an
International Firm.
